Method for reporting channel state in wireless communication system and apparatus therefor

ABSTRACT

A method for reporting a channel state in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is performed by a terminal, may comprise the steps of: receiving, from a base station, a channel state information (CSI) request; and reporting, to the base station, CSI corresponding to the CSI request, on the basis of the maximum CSI update capability for a transmission time interval (TTI) length associated with the CSI request, wherein information on the maximum CSI update capability includes the maximum number of CSI processes for the TTI length, which can be simultaneously updated by the terminal.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method for a user equipment (UE) to report a channel state and apparatus therefor.

BACKGROUND ART

The latency of packet data is one of important performance metrics. To reduce the latency of packet data and provide faster Internet access to an ender user is one of challenging issues in designing the next-generation mobile communication system called new radio access technology (RAT) as well as long term evolution (LTE).

The present disclosure provides a description related to a reference signal in a wireless communication system supporting a reduction in latency.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The object of the present disclosure is to provide a method of reporting a channel state in a wireless communication system and operation therefor.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the objects that could be achieved with the present disclosure are not limited to what has been particularly described hereinabove and the above and other objects that the present disclosure could achieve will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description.

Technical Solution

In an aspect of the present disclosure, provided herein is a method of reporting a channel state in a wireless communication system, which is performed by a UE. The method may include: receiving a channel state information (CSI) request from a base station; updating CSI based on maximum CSI update capability for a transmission time interval (TTI) length related to the CSI request; and reporting the CSI in response to the CSI request to the base station. In this case, information on the maximum CSI update capability may include the maximum number of CSI processes that the UE is capable of simultaneously updating for the TTI length.

Additionally or alternatively, the maximum CSI update capability of the UE may be configured for each TTI length.

Additionally or alternatively, when the number of CSI processes indicated by the CSI request exceeds the maximum number of CSI processes that the UE is capable of simultaneously updating, the method may include updating as many CSI processes as the maximum number of CSI processes.

Additionally or alternatively, the updating may include updating CSI processes for the UE sequentially by starting from a CSI process with a high priority based on predetermined priorities.

Additionally or alternatively, the predetermined priorities may be irrelevant to a time at which the CSI is reported and a time at which the CSI request is received.

Additionally or alternatively, the method may further include reporting to the base station information on the maximum number of CSI processes supported by the UE for each target block error rate (BLER), service type, numerology, TTI length, combination of an uplink (UL) TTI length and a downlink (DL) TTI length, or processing time or for each combination thereof.

Additionally or alternatively, when the transmission mode of a TTI for receiving the CSI request is different from that of a TTI for reporting the CSI, a reporting mode corresponding to the transmission mode of the TTI for reporting the CSI may be used to report the CSI in response to the CSI request.

Additionally or alternatively, when repetition is supported in reporting the CSI, a beta offset value for determining the number of coded modulation symbols or resource elements for a UL channel carrying the CSI may be configured for each repetition number.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, provided herein is a UE for receiving a DL signal in a wireless communication system. The UE may include a receiver, a transmitter, and a processor configured to control the receiver and the transmitter. The processor may be configured to receive a CSI request from a base station; update CSI based on maximum CSI update capability for a TTI length related to the CSI request; and report the CSI in response to the CSI request to the base station. In this case, information on the maximum CSI update capability may include the maximum number of CSI processes that the UE is capable of simultaneously updating for the TTI length.

Additionally or alternatively, the maximum CSI update capability of the UE may be configured for each TTI length.

Additionally or alternatively, when the number of CSI processes indicated by the CSI request exceeds the maximum number of CSI processes that the UE is capable of simultaneously updating, the processor may be configured to update as many CSI processes as the maximum number of CSI processes.

Additionally or alternatively, the processor may be configured to update CSI processes for the UE sequentially by starting from a CSI process with a high priority based on predetermined priorities.

Additionally or alternatively, the predetermined priorities may be irrelevant to a time at which the CSI is reported and a time at which the CSI request is received.

Additionally or alternatively, the processor may be configured to report to the base station information on the maximum number of CSI processes supported by the UE for each target BLER, service type, numerology, TTI length, combination of a UL TTI length and a DL TTI length, or processing time or for each combination thereof.

Additionally or alternatively, when the transmission mode of a TTI for receiving the CSI request is different from that of a TTI for reporting the CSI, a reporting mode corresponding to the transmission mode of the TTI for reporting the CSI may be used to report the CSI in response to the CSI request.

Additionally or alternatively, when repetition is supported in reporting the CSI, a beta offset value for determining the number of coded modulation symbols or resource elements for a UL channel carrying the CSI may be configured for each repetition number.

The above-described aspects of the present disclosure are merely parts of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various embodiments are derived from the following detailed description of the present disclosure without departing from the technical features of the disclosure.

Advantageous Effects

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a channel state may be efficiently reported in a wireless communication system.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the effects that could be achieved with the present disclosure are not limited to what has been particularly described hereinabove and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for an example of a radio frame structure used in wireless communication system;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for an example of a downlink (DL)/uplink (UL) slot structure in a wireless communication system;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for an example of a downlink (DL) subframe structure used in 3GPP LTE/LTE-A system;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for an example of an uplink (UL) subframe structure used in 3GPP LTE/LTE-A system;

FIG. 5 illustrates a decrease in the length of a TTI according to reduction in user-plane latency.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of configuring a plurality of short TTIs in one subframe.

FIG. 7 illustrates the structures of DL subframes including short TTIs of multiple lengths (various numbers of symbols).

FIG. 8 illustrates the structures of DL subframes including short TTIs of 2 and 3 symbols.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram for a device configured to implement embodiment(s) of the present disclosure.

BEST MODE

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and provide a more detailed description of the present disclosure. However, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited thereto.

In some cases, to prevent the concept of the present disclosure from being ambiguous, structures and apparatuses of the known art will be omitted or will be shown in the form of a block diagram based on main functions of each structure and apparatus. Also, wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the specification to refer to the same or like parts.

In the present disclosure, a user equipment (UE) is fixed or mobile. The UE is a device that transmits and receives user data and/or control information by communicating with a base station (BS). The term ‘UE’ may be replaced with ‘terminal equipment’, ‘Mobile Station (MS)’, ‘Mobile Terminal (MT)’, ‘User Terminal (UT)’, ‘Subscriber Station (SS)’, ‘wireless device’, ‘Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)’, ‘wireless modem’, ‘handheld device’, etc. A BS is typically a fixed station that communicates with a UE and/or another BS. The BS exchanges data and control information with a UE and another BS. The term ‘BS’ may be replaced with ‘Advanced Base Station (ABS)’, ‘Node B’, ‘evolved-Node B (eNB)’, ‘Base Transceiver System (BTS)’, ‘Access Point (AP)’, ‘Processing Server (PS)’, etc. In the following description, BS is commonly called eNB.

In the present disclosure, a node refers to a fixed point capable of transmitting/receiving a radio signal to/from a UE by communication with the UE. Various eNBs may be used as nodes. For example, a node may be a BS, NB, eNB, pico-cell eNB (PeNB), home eNB (HeNB), relay, repeater, etc. Furthermore, a node may not be an eNB. For example, a node may be a radio remote head (RRH) or a radio remote unit (RRU). The RRH and RRU have power levels lower than that of the eNB. Since the RRH or RRU (referred to as RRH/RRU hereinafter) is connected to an eNB through a dedicated line such as an optical cable in general, cooperative communication according to RRH/RRU and eNB may be smoothly performed compared to cooperative communication according to eNBs connected through a wireless link. At least one antenna is installed per node. An antenna may refer to an antenna port, a virtual antenna or an antenna group. A node may also be called a point. Unlink a conventional centralized antenna system (CAS) (i.e. single node system) in which antennas are concentrated in an eNB and controlled an eNB controller, plural nodes are spaced apart at a predetermined distance or longer in a multi-node system. The plural nodes may be managed by one or more eNBs or eNB controllers that control operations of the nodes or schedule data to be transmitted/received through the nodes. Each node may be connected to an eNB or eNB controller managing the corresponding node via a cable or a dedicated line. In the multi-node system, the same cell identity (ID) or different cell IDs may be used for signal transmission/reception through plural nodes. When plural nodes have the same cell ID, each of the plural nodes operates as an antenna group of a cell. If nodes have different cell IDs in the multi-node system, the multi-node system may be regarded as a multi-cell (e.g. macro-cell/femto-cell/pico-cell) system. When multiple cells respectively configured by plural nodes are overlaid according to coverage, a network configured by multiple cells is called a multi-tier network. The cell ID of the RRH/RRU may be identical to or different from the cell ID of an eNB. When the RRH/RRU and eNB use different cell IDs, both the RRH/RRU and eNB operate as independent eNBs.

In a multi-node system according to the present disclosure, which will be described below, one or more eNBs or eNB controllers connected to plural nodes may control the plural nodes such that signals are simultaneously transmitted to or received from a UE through some or all nodes. While there is a difference between multi-node systems according to the nature of each node and implementation form of each node, multi-node systems are discriminated from single node systems (e.g. CAS, conventional MIMO systems, conventional relay systems, conventional repeater systems, etc.) since a plurality of nodes provides communication services to a UE in a predetermined time-frequency resource. Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure with respect to a method of performing coordinated data transmission using some or all nodes may be applied to various types of multi-node systems. For example, a node refers to an antenna group spaced apart from another node by a predetermined distance or more, in general. However, embodiments of the present disclosure, which will be described below, may even be applied to a case in which a node refers to an arbitrary antenna group irrespective of node interval. In the case of an eNB including an X-pole (cross polarized) antenna, for example, the embodiments of the preset disclosure are applicable on the assumption that the eNB controls a node composed of an H-pole antenna and a V-pole antenna.

A communication scheme through which signals are transmitted/received via plural transmit (Tx)/receive (Rx) nodes, signals are transmitted/received via at least one node selected from plural Tx/Rx nodes, or a node transmitting a downlink signal is discriminated from a node transmitting an uplink signal is called multi-eNB MIMO or CoMP (Coordinated Multi-Point Tx/Rx). Coordinated transmission schemes from among CoMP communication schemes may be categorized into JP (Joint Processing) and scheduling coordination. The former may be divided into JT (Joint Transmission)/JR (Joint Reception) and DPS (Dynamic Point Selection) and the latter may be divided into CS (Coordinated Scheduling) and CB (Coordinated Beamforming). DPS may be called DCS (Dynamic Cell Selection). When JP is performed, more various communication environments may be generated, compared to other CoMP schemes. JT refers to a communication scheme by which plural nodes transmit the same stream to a UE and JR refers to a communication scheme by which plural nodes receive the same stream from the UE. The UE/eNB combine signals received from the plural nodes to restore the stream. In the case of JT/JR, signal transmission reliability may be improved according to transmit diversity since the same stream is transmitted from/to plural nodes. DPS refers to a communication scheme by which a signal is transmitted/received through a node selected from plural nodes according to a specific rule. In the case of DPS, signal transmission reliability may be improved because a node having a good channel state between the node and a UE is selected as a communication node.

In the present disclosure, a cell refers to a specific geographical area in which one or more nodes provide communication services. Accordingly, communication with a specific cell may mean communication with an eNB or a node providing communication services to the specific cell. A downlink/uplink signal of a specific cell refers to a downlink/uplink signal from/to an eNB or a node providing communication services to the specific cell. A cell providing uplink/downlink communication services to a UE is called a serving cell. Furthermore, channel status/quality of a specific cell refers to channel status/quality of a channel or a communication link generated between an eNB or a node providing communication services to the specific cell and a UE. In 3GPP LTE-A systems, a UE may measure downlink channel state from a specific node using one or more CSI-RSs (Channel State Information Reference Signals) transmitted through antenna port(s) of the specific node on a CSI-RS resource allocated to the specific node. In general, neighboring nodes transmit CSI-RS resources on orthogonal CSI-RS resources. When CSI-RS resources are orthogonal, this means that the CSI-RS resources have different subframe configurations and/or CSI-RS sequences which specify subframes to which CSI-RSs are allocated according to CSI-RS resource configurations, subframe offsets and transmission periods, etc. which specify symbols and subcarriers carrying the CSI RSs.

In the present disclosure, PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel)/PCFICH (Physical Control Format Indicator Channel)/PHICH (Physical Hybrid automatic repeat request Indicator Channel)/PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) refer to a set of time-frequency resources or resource elements respectively carrying DCI (Downlink Control Information)/CFI (Control Format Indicator)/downlink ACK/NACK (Acknowledgement/Negative ACK)/downlink data. In addition, PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel)/PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel)/PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) refer to sets of time-frequency resources or resource elements respectively carrying UCI (Uplink Control Information)/uplink data/random access signals. In the present disclosure, a time-frequency resource or a resource element (RE), which is allocated to or belongs to PDCCH/PCFICH/PHICH/PDSCH/PUCCH/PUSCH/PRACH, is referred to as a PDCCH/PCFICH/PHICH/PDSCH/PUCCH/PUSCH/PRACH RE or PDCCH/PCFICH/PHICH/PDSCH/PUCCH/PUSCH/PRACH resource. In the following description, transmission of PUCCH/PUSCH/PRACH by a UE is equivalent to transmission of uplink control information/uplink data/random access signal through or on PUCCH/PUSCH/PRACH. Furthermore, transmission of PDCCH/PCFICH/PHICH/PDSCH by an eNB is equivalent to transmission of downlink data/control information through or on PDCCH/PCFICH/PHICH/PDSCH.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary radio frame structure used in a wireless communication system. FIG. 1(a) illustrates a frame structure for frequency division duplex (FDD) used in 3GPP LTE/LTE-A and FIG. 1(b) illustrates a frame structure for time division duplex (TDD) used in 3GPP LTE/LTE-A.

Referring to FIG. 1, a radio frame used in 3GPP LTE/LTE-A has a length of 10 ms (307200 Ts) and includes 10 subframes in equal size. The 10 subframes in the radio frame may be numbered. Here, Ts denotes sampling time and is represented as Ts=1/(2048*15 kHz). Each subframe has a length of 1 ms and includes two slots. 20 slots in the radio frame may be sequentially numbered from 0 to 19. Each slot has a length of 0.5 ms. A time for transmitting a subframe is defined as a transmission time interval (TTI). Time resources may be discriminated by a radio frame number (or radio frame index), subframe number (or subframe index) and a slot number (or slot index).

The radio frame may be configured differently according to duplex mode. Downlink transmission is discriminated from uplink transmission by frequency in FDD mode, and thus the radio frame includes only one of a downlink subframe and an uplink subframe in a specific frequency band. In TDD mode, downlink transmission is discriminated from uplink transmission by time, and thus the radio frame includes both a downlink subframe and an uplink subframe in a specific frequency band.

Table 1 shows DL-UL configurations of subframes in a radio frame in the TDD mode.

TABLE 1 Downlink- DL-UL to-Uplink config- Switch-point Subframe number uration periodicity 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 5 ms D S U U U D S U U U 1 5 ms D S U U D D S U U D 2 5 ms D S U D D D S U D D 3 10 ms  D S U U U D D D D D 4 10 ms  D S U U D D D D D D 5 10 ms  D S U D D D D D D D 6 5 ms D S U U U D S U U D

In Table 1, D denotes a downlink subframe, U denotes an uplink subframe and S denotes a special subframe. The special subframe includes three fields of DwPTS (Downlink Pilot Time Slot), GP (Guard Period), and UpPTS (Uplink Pilot Time Slot). DwPTS is a period reserved for downlink transmission and UpPTS is a period reserved for uplink transmission. Table 2 shows special subframe configuration.

TABLE 2 Normal cyclic prefix in downlink Extended cyclic prefix in downlink UpPTS UpPTS Normal Extended Normal Extended Special cyclic cyclic cyclic cyclic subframe prefix in prefix in prefix in prefix in configuration DwPTS uplink uplink DwPTS uplink uplink 0  6592 · T_(s) 2192 · T_(s) 2560 · T_(s)  7680 · T_(s) 2192 · T_(s) 2560 · T_(s) 1 19760 · T_(s) 20480 · T_(s) 2 21952 · T_(s) 23040 · T_(s) 3 24144 · T_(s) 25600 · T_(s) 4 26336 · T_(s)  7680 · T_(s) 4384 · T_(s) 5120 · T_(s) 5  6592 · T_(s) 4384 · T_(s) 5120 · T_(s) 20480 · T_(s) 6 19760 · T_(s) 23040 · T_(s) 7 21952 · T_(s) 12800 · T_(s) 8 24144 · T_(s) — — — 9 13168 · T_(s) — — —

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary downlink/uplink slot structure in a wireless communication system. Particularly, FIG. 2 illustrates a resource grid structure in 3GPP LTE/LTE-A. A resource grid is present per antenna port.

Referring to FIG. 2, a slot includes a plurality of OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols in the time domain and a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain. An OFDM symbol may refer to a symbol period. A signal transmitted in each slot may be represented by a resource grid composed of N_(RB) ^(DL/UL)*N_(sc) ^(RB) subcarriers and N_(symb) ^(DL/UL) OFDM symbols. Here, N_(RB) ^(DL) denotes the number of RBs in a downlink slot and N_(RB) ^(UL) denotes the number of RBs in an uplink slot. N_(RB) ^(DL) and N_(RB) ^(UL) respectively depend on a DL transmission bandwidth and a UL transmission bandwidth. N_(symb) ^(DL) denotes the number of OFDM symbols in the downlink slot and N_(symb) ^(UL) denotes the number of OFDM symbols in the uplink slot. In addition, denotes the number of subcarriers constructing one RB.

An OFDM symbol may be called an SC-FDM (Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbol according to multiple access scheme. The number of OFDM symbols included in a slot may depend on a channel bandwidth and the length of a cyclic prefix (CP). For example, a slot includes 7 OFDM symbols in the case of normal CP and 6 OFDM symbols in the case of extended CP. While FIG. 2 illustrates a subframe in which a slot includes 7 OFDM symbols for convenience, embodiments of the present disclosure may be equally applied to subframes having different numbers of OFDM symbols. Referring to FIG. 2, each OFDM symbol includes N_(RB) ^(DL/UL)*N_(sc) ^(RB) subcarriers in the frequency domain. Subcarrier types may be classified into a data subcarrier for data transmission, a reference signal subcarrier for reference signal transmission, and null subcarriers for a guard band and a direct current (DC) component. The null subcarrier for a DC component is a subcarrier remaining unused and is mapped to a carrier frequency (f0) during OFDM signal generation or frequency up-conversion. The carrier frequency is also called a center frequency.

An RB is defined by N_(symb) ^(DL/UL) (e.g. 7) consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain and R_(sc) ^(RB) (e.g. 12) consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. For reference, a resource composed by an OFDM symbol and a subcarrier is called a resource element (RE) or a tone. Accordingly, an RB is composed of N_(symb) ^(DL/UL)*N_(sc) ^(RB) REs. Each RE in a resource grid may be uniquely defined by an index pair (k, l) in a slot. Here, k is an index in the range of 0 to N_(symb) ^(DL/UL)*N_(sc) ^(RB)−1 in the frequency domain and l is an index in the range of 0 to N_(symb) ^(DL/UL)−1.

Two RBs that occupy N_(sc) ^(RB) consecutive subcarriers in a subframe and respectively disposed in two slots of the subframe are called a physical resource block (PRB) pair. Two RBs constituting a PRB pair have the same PRB number (or PRB index). A virtual resource block (VRB) is a logical resource allocation unit for resource allocation. The VRB has the same size as that of the PRB. The VRB may be divided into a localized VRB and a distributed VRB depending on a mapping scheme of VRB into PRB. The localized VRBs are mapped into the PRBs, whereby VRB number (VRB index) corresponds to PRB number. That is, n_(PRB)=n_(VRB) is obtained. Numbers are given to the localized VRBs from 0 to N_(VRB) ^(DL)−1, and N_(VRB) ^(DL)=N_(RB) ^(DL) is obtained. Accordingly, according to the localized mapping scheme, the VRBs having the same VRB number are mapped into the PRBs having the same PRB number at the first slot and the second slot. On the other hand, the distributed VRBs are mapped into the PRBs through interleaving. Accordingly, the VRBs having the same VRB number may be mapped into the PRBs having different PRB numbers at the first slot and the second slot. Two PRBs, which are respectively located at two slots of the subframe and have the same VRB number, will be referred to as a pair of VRBs.

FIG. 3 illustrates a downlink (DL) subframe structure used in 3GPP LTE/LTE-A.

Referring to FIG. 3, a DL subframe is divided into a control region and a data region. A maximum of three (four) OFDM symbols located in a front portion of a first slot within a subframe correspond to the control region to which a control channel is allocated. A resource region available for PDCCH transmission in the DL subframe is referred to as a PDCCH region hereinafter. The remaining OFDM symbols correspond to the data region to which a physical downlink shared chancel (PDSCH) is allocated. A resource region available for PDSCH transmission in the DL subframe is referred to as a PDSCH region hereinafter. Examples of downlink control channels used in 3GPP LTE include a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), etc. The PCFICH is transmitted at a first OFDM symbol of a subframe and carries information regarding the number of OFDM symbols used for transmission of control channels within the subframe. The PHICH is a response of uplink transmission and carries an HARQ acknowledgment (ACK)/negative acknowledgment (NACK) signal.

Control information carried on the PDCCH is called downlink control information (DCI). The DCI contains resource allocation information and control information for a UE or a UE group. For example, the DCI includes a transport format and resource allocation information of a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH), a transport format and resource allocation information of an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH), paging information of a paging channel (PCH), system information on the DL-SCH, information about resource allocation of an upper layer control message such as a random access response transmitted on the PDSCH, a transmit control command set with respect to individual UEs in a UE group, a transmit power control command, information on activation of a voice over IP (VoIP), downlink assignment index (DAI), etc. The transport format and resource allocation information of the DL-SCH are also called DL scheduling information or a DL grant and the transport format and resource allocation information of the UL-SCH are also called UL scheduling information or a UL grant. The size and purpose of DCI carried on a PDCCH depend on DCI format and the size thereof may be varied according to coding rate. Various formats, for example, formats 0 and 4 for uplink and formats 1, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3 and 3A for downlink, have been defined in 3GPP LTE. Control information such as a hopping flag, information on RB allocation, modulation coding scheme (MCS), redundancy version (RV), new data indicator (NDI), information on transmit power control (TPC), cyclic shift demodulation reference signal (DMRS), UL index, channel quality information (CQI) request, DL assignment index, HARQ process number, transmitted precoding matrix indicator (TPMI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), etc. is selected and combined based on DCI format and transmitted to a UE as DCI.

In general, the DCI format for a UE depends on the transmission mode (TM) configured for the UE. In other words, only a DCI format corresponding to a specific TM may be used for a UE configured in the specific TM.

A PDCCH is transmitted on an aggregation of one or several consecutive control channel elements (CCEs). The CCE is a logical allocation unit used to provide the PDCCH with a coding rate based on a state of a radio channel. The CCE corresponds to a plurality of resource element groups (REGs). For example, a CCE corresponds to 9 REGs and an REG corresponds to 4 REs. 3GPP LTE defines a CCE set in which a PDCCH may be located for each UE. A CCE set from which a UE may detect a PDCCH thereof is called a PDCCH search space, simply, search space. An individual resource through which the PDCCH may be transmitted within the search space is called a PDCCH candidate. A set of PDCCH candidates to be monitored by the UE is defined as the search space. In 3GPP LTE/LTE-A, search spaces for DCI formats may have different sizes and include a dedicated search space and a common search space. The dedicated search space is a UE-specific search space and is configured for each UE. The common search space is configured for a plurality of UEs. Aggregation levels defining the search space is as follows.

TABLE 3 Search Space Aggregation Level Number of PDCCH Type L Size [in CCEs] candidates M^((L)) UE-specific 1 6 6 2 12 6 4 8 2 8 16 2 Common 4 16 4 8 16 2

A PDCCH candidate corresponds to 1, 2, 4 or 8 CCEs according to CCE aggregation level. An eNB transmits a PDCCH (DCI) on an arbitrary PDCCH candidate in a search space, and a UE monitors the search space to detect the PDCCH (DCI). Here, monitoring refers to attempting to decode each PDCCH in the corresponding search space according to all monitored DCI formats. The UE may detect the PDCCH thereof by monitoring plural PDCCHs. Since the UE does not know the position in which the PDCCH thereof is transmitted, the UE attempts to decode all PDCCHs of the corresponding DCI format for each subframe until a PDCCH having the ID thereof is detected. This process is called blind detection (or blind decoding (BD)).

The eNB may transmit data for a UE or a UE group through the data region. Data transmitted through the data region may be called user data. For transmission of the user data, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may be allocated to the data region. A paging channel (PCH) and downlink-shared channel (DL-SCH) are transmitted through the PDSCH. The UE may read data transmitted through the PDSCH by decoding control information transmitted through a PDCCH. Information representing a UE or a UE group to which data on the PDSCH is transmitted, how the UE or UE group receives and decodes the PDSCH data, etc. is included in the PDCCH and transmitted. For example, if a specific PDCCH is CRC (cyclic redundancy check)-masked having radio network temporary identify (RNTI) of “A” and information about data transmitted using a radio resource (e.g., frequency position) of “B” and transmission format information (e.g., transport block size, modulation scheme, coding information, etc.) of “C” is transmitted through a specific DL subframe, the UE monitors PDCCHs using RNTI information and a UE having the RNTI of “A” detects a PDCCH and receives a PDSCH indicated by “B” and “C” using information about the PDCCH.

A reference signal (RS) to be compared with a data signal is necessary for the UE to demodulate a signal received from the eNB. A reference signal refers to a predetermined signal having a specific waveform, which is transmitted from the eNB to the UE or from the UE to the eNB and known to both the eNB and UE. The reference signal is also called a pilot. Reference signals are categorized into a cell-specific RS shared by all UEs in a cell and a modulation RS (DM RS) dedicated for a specific UE. A DM RS transmitted by the eNB for demodulation of downlink data for a specific UE is called a UE-specific RS. Both or one of DM RS and CRS may be transmitted on downlink. When only the DM RS is transmitted without CRS, an RS for channel measurement needs to be additionally provided because the DM RS transmitted using the same precoder as used for data may be used for demodulation only. For example, in 3GPP LTE(-A), CSI-RS corresponding to an additional RS for measurement is transmitted to the UE such that the UE may measure channel state information. CSI-RS is transmitted in each transmission period corresponding to a plurality of subframes based on the fact that channel state variation with time is not large, unlike CRS transmitted per subframe.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary uplink subframe structure used in 3GPP LTE/LTE-A.

Referring to FIG. 4, a UL subframe may be divided into a control region and a data region in the frequency domain. One or more PUCCHs (physical uplink control channels) may be allocated to the control region to carry uplink control information (UCI). One or more PUSCHs (Physical uplink shared channels) may be allocated to the data region of the UL subframe to carry user data.

In the UL subframe, subcarriers spaced apart from a DC subcarrier are used as the control region. In other words, subcarriers corresponding to both ends of a UL transmission bandwidth are assigned to UCI transmission. The DC subcarrier is a component remaining unused for signal transmission and is mapped to the carrier frequency f0 during frequency up-conversion. A PUCCH for a UE is allocated to an RB pair belonging to resources operating at a carrier frequency and RBs belonging to the RB pair occupy different subcarriers in two slots. Assignment of the PUCCH in this manner is represented as frequency hopping of an RB pair allocated to the PUCCH at a slot boundary. When frequency hopping is not applied, the RB pair occupies the same subcarrier.

The PUCCH may be used to transmit the following control information.

-   -   Scheduling Request (SR): This is information used to request a         UL-SCH resource and is transmitted using On-Off Keying (OOK)         scheme     -   HARQ ACK/NACK: This is a response signal to a downlink data         packet on a PDSCH and indicates whether the downlink data packet         has been successfully received. A 1-bit ACK/NACK signal is         transmitted as a response to a single downlink codeword and a         2-bit ACK/NACK signal is transmitted as a response to two         downlink codewords. HARQ-ACK responses include positive ACK         (ACK), negative ACK (NACK), discontinuous transmission (DTX) and         NACK/DTX. Here, the term HARQ-ACK is used interchangeably with         the term HARQ ACK/NACK and ACK/NACK     -   Channel State Indicator (CSI): This is feedback information         about a downlink channel. Feedback information regarding MIMO         includes a rank indicator (RI) and a precoding matrix indicator         (PMI).

The quantity of control information (UCI) that a UE may transmit through a subframe depends on the number of SC-FDMA symbols available for control information transmission. The SC-FDMA symbols available for control information transmission correspond to SC-FDMA symbols other than SC-FDMA symbols of the subframe, which are used for reference signal transmission. In the case of a subframe in which a sounding reference signal (SRS) is configured, the last SC-FDMA symbol of the subframe is excluded from the SC-FDMA symbols available for control information transmission. A reference signal is used to detect coherence of the PUCCH. The PUCCH supports various formats according to information transmitted thereon.

Table 4 shows the mapping relationship between PUCCH formats and UCI in LTE/LTE-A.

TABLE 4 Number of bits per PUCCH Modulation subframe, format scheme M_(bit) Usage Etc. 1 N/A N/A SR (Scheduling Request) 1a BPSK 1 ACK/NACK or One codeword SR + ACK/NACK 1b QPSK 2 ACK/NACK or Two codeword SR + ACK/NACK 2 QPSK 20 CQI/PMI/RI Joint coding ACK/NACK (extended CP) 2a QPSK + 21 CQI/PMI/RI + Normal CP BPSK ACK/NACK only 2b QPSK + 22 CQI/PMI/RI + Normal CP QPSK ACK/NACK only 3 QPSK 48 ACK/NACK or SR + ACK/NACK or CQI/PMI/RI + ACK/NACK

Referring to Table 4, PUCCH formats 1/1a/1b are used to transmit ACK/NACK information, PUCCH format 2/2a/2b are used to carry CSI such as CQI/PMI/RI and PUCCH format 3 is used to transmit ACK/NACK information.

Reference Signal (RS)

When a packet is transmitted in a wireless communication system, signal distortion may occur during transmission since the packet is transmitted through a radio channel. To correctly receive a distorted signal at a receiver, the distorted signal needs to be corrected using channel information. To detect channel information, a signal known to both a transmitter and the receiver is transmitted and channel information is detected with a degree of distortion of the signal when the signal is received through a channel. This signal is called a pilot signal or a reference signal.

When data is transmitted/received using multiple antennas, the receiver may receive a correct signal only when the receiver is aware of a channel state between each transmit antenna and each receive antenna. Accordingly, a reference signal needs to be provided per transmit antenna, more specifically, per antenna port.

Reference signals may be classified into an uplink reference signal and a downlink reference signal. In LTE, the uplink reference signal includes:

i) a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for channel estimation for coherent demodulation of information transmitted through a PUSCH and a PUCCH; and

ii) a sounding reference signal (SRS) used for an eNB to measure uplink channel quality at a frequency of a different network.

The downlink reference signal includes:

i) a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) shared by all UEs in a cell;

ii) a UE-specific reference signal for a specific UE only;

iii) a DMRS transmitted for coherent demodulation when a PDSCH is transmitted;

iv) a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for delivering channel state information (CSI) when a downlink DMRS is transmitted;

v) a multimedia broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) reference signal transmitted for coherent demodulation of a signal transmitted in MBSFN mode; and

vi) a positioning reference signal used to estimate geographic position information of a UE.

Reference signals may be classified into a reference signal for channel information acquisition and a reference signal for data demodulation. The former needs to be transmitted in a wide band as it is used for a UE to acquire channel information on downlink transmission and received by a UE even if the UE does not receive downlink data in a specific subframe. This reference signal is used even in a handover situation. The latter is transmitted along with a corresponding resource by an eNB when the eNB transmits a downlink signal and is used for a UE to demodulate data through channel measurement. This reference signal needs to be transmitted in a region in which data is transmitted.

CSI Reporting

In the 3GPP LTE(-A) system, a user equipment (UE) is defined to report CSI to a BS. Herein, the CSI collectively refers to information indicating the quality of a radio channel (also called a link) created between a UE and an antenna port. The CSI includes, for example, a rank indicator (RI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), and a channel quality indicator (CQI). Herein, the RI, which indicates rank information about a channel, refers to the number of streams that a UE receives through the same time-frequency resource. The RI value is determined depending on long-term fading of the channel, and is thus usually fed back to the BS by the UE with a longer period than for the PMI and CQI. The PMI, which has a value reflecting the channel space property, indicates a precoding index preferred by the UE based on a metric such as SINR. The CQI, which has a value indicating the intensity of a channel, typically refers to a receive SINR which may be obtained by the BS when the PMI is used.

The UE calculates, based on measurement of the radio channel, a preferred PMI and RI from which an optimum or highest transmission rate may be derived when used by the BS in the current channel state, and feeds back the calculated PMI and RI to the BS. Herein, the CQI refers to a modulation and coding scheme providing an acceptable packet error probability for the PMI/RI that is fed back.

Meanwhile, in the LTE-A system expected to include finer MU-MIMO and explicit CoMP operations, current CSI feedback is defined in LTE and cannot sufficiently support such operations to be newly employed. As the requirements for CSI feedback accuracy become complicated to obtain sufficient MU-MIMO or CoMP throughput gain, they agreed to configure PMI with two types of long term/wideband PMI (W₁) and short term/subband PMI (W₂). So to speak, final PMI is expressed as a function of W₁ and W₂. For example, final PMI W may be defined as follows: W=W₁*W₂ or W=W₂*W₁. Hence, in LTE-A, CSI shall be configured with RI, W₁, W₂ and CQI.

In the 3GPP LTE(-A) system, an uplink channel used for CSI transmission is configured as shown in Table 5.

TABLE 5 Periodic CSI Aperiodic CSI Scheduling scheme transmission transmission Frequency non-selective PUCCH — Frequency selective PUCCH PUSCH

Referring to Table 7, CSI may be transmitted with a periodicity defined in a higher layer, using a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). When needed by the scheduler, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) may be aperiodically used to transmit the CSI. Transmission of the CSI over the PUSCH is possible only in the case of frequency selective scheduling and aperiodic CSI transmission. Hereinafter, CSI transmission schemes according to scheduling schemes and periodicity will be described.

1) Transmitting the CQI/PMI/RI Over the PUSCH after Receiving a CSI Transmission Request Control Signal (a CSI Request)

A PUSCH scheduling control signal (UL grant) transmitted over a PDCCH may include a control signal for requesting transmission of CSI. The table below shows modes of the UE in which the CQI, PMI and RI are transmitted over the PUSCH.

TABLE 6 PMI Feedback Type No PMI Single PMI Multiple PMIs PUSCH Wideband Mode 1-2 CQI (Wideband CQI) RI Feedback 1st wideband Type CQI(4 bit) 2nd wideband CQI(4 bit) if RI > 1 N*Subband PMI(4 bit) (N is the total # of subbands) (if 8Tx Ant, N*subband W2 + wideband W1) UE selected Mode 2-0 Mode 2-2 (Subband CQI) RI RI (only for Open- 1st wideband loop SM) CQI(4 bit) + Best-M 1st wideband CQI(2 bit) CQI(4 bit) + Best-M 2nd wideband CQI(2 bit) CQI(4 bit) + Best-M (Best-M CQI: An CQI(2 bit) if RI > 1 average CQI for M Best-M index SBs selected from (L bit) among N SBs) Wideband Best-M index PMI(4 bit) + Best-M (L bit) PMI(4 bit) (if 8Tx Ant, wideband W2 + Best-M W2 + wideband W1) Higher Layer- Mode 3-0 Mode 3-1 Mode 3-2 configured RI RI RI (Subband CQI) (only for Open- 1st wideband 1st wideband loop SM) CQI(4 bit) + CQI(4 bit) + 1st wideband N*subbandCQI(2 bit) N*subbandCQI(2 bit) CQI(4 bit) + 2nd wideband 2nd wideband N*subbandCQI(2 bit) CQI(4 bit) + CQI(4 bit)+ N*subbandCQI(2 bit) N*subbandCQI(2 bit) if RI > 1 if RI > 1 Wideband N*Subband PMI(4 bit) PMI(4 bit) (if 8Tx Ant, (N is the total # of wideband W2 + subbands) wideband W1) (if 8Tx Ant, N*subband W2 + wideband W1)

The transmission modes in Table 6 are selected in a higher layer, and the CQI/PMI/RI are all transmitted in a PUSCH subframe. Hereinafter, uplink transmission methods for the UE according to the respective modes will be described.

Mode 1-2 represents a case where precoding matrices are selected on the assumption that data is transmitted only in subbands. The UE generates a CQI on the assumption of a precoding matrix selected for a system band or a whole band (set S) designated in a higher layer. In Mode 1-2, the UE may transmit a CQI and a PMI value for each subband. Herein, the size of each subband may depend on the size of the system band.

A UE in Mode 2-0 may select M preferred subbands for a system band or a band (set S) designated in a higher layer. The UE may generate one CQI value on the assumption that data is transmitted for the M selected subbands. Preferably, the UE additionally reports one CQI (wideband CQI) value for the system band or set S. If there are multiple codewords for the M selected subbands, the UE defines a CQI value for each codeword in a differential form.

In this case, the differential CQI value is determined as a difference between an index corresponding to the CQI value for the M selected subbands and a wideband (WB) CQI index.

The UE in Mode 2-0 may transmit, to a BS, information about the positions of the M selected subbands, one CQI value for the M selected subbands and a CQI value generated for the whole band or designated band (set S). Herein, the size of a subband and the value of M may depend on the size of the system band.

A UE in Mode 2-2 may select positions of M preferred subbands and a single precoding matrix for the M preferred subbands simultaneously on the assumption that data is transmitted through the M preferred subbands. Herein, a CQI value for the M preferred subbands is defined for each codeword. In addition, the UE additionally generates a wideband CQI value for the system band or a designated band (set S).

The UE in Mode 2-2 may transmit, to the BS, information about the positions of the M preferred subbands, one CQI value for the M selected subbands and a single PMI for the M preferred subbands, a wideband PMI, and a wideband CQI value. Herein, the size of a subband and the value of M may depend on the size of the system band.

A UE in Mode 3-0 generates a wideband CQI value. The UE generates a CQI value for each subband on the assumption that data is transmitted through each subband. In this case, even if RI>1, the CQI value represents only the CQI value for the first codeword.

A UE in Mode 3-1 generates a single precoding matrix for the system band or a designated band (set S). The UE generates a CQI subband for each codeword on the assumption of the single precoding matrix generated for each subband. In addition, the UE may generate a wideband CQI on the assumption of the single precoding matrix. The CQI value for each subband may be expressed in a differential form. The subband CQI value is calculated as a difference between the subband CQI index and the wideband CQI index. Herein, the size of each subband may depend on the size of the system band.

A UE in Mode 3-2 generates a precoding matrix for each subband in place of a single precoding matrix for the whole band, in contrast with the UE in Mode 3-1.

2) Periodic CQI/PMI/RI Transmission Over PUCCH

The UE may periodically transmit CSI (e.g., CQI/PMI/PTI (precoding type indicator) and/or RI information) to the BS over a PUCCH. If the UE receives a control signal instructing transmission of user data, the UE may transmit a CQI over the PUCCH. Even if the control signal is transmitted over a PUSCH, the CQI/PMI/PTI/RI may be transmitted in one of the modes defined in the following table.

TABLE 7 PMI feedback type No PMI Single PMI PUCCH CQI feedback type Wideband Mode 1-0 Mode 1-1 (wideband CQI) UE selective Mode 2-0 Mode 2-1 (subband CQI)

A UE may be set in transmission modes as shown in Table 7. Referring to Table 7, in Mode 2-0 and Mode 2-1, a bandwidth part (BP) may be a set of subbands consecutively positioned in the frequency domain, and cover the system band or a designated band (set S). In Table 7, the size of each subband, the size of a BP and the number of BPs may depend on the size of the system band. In addition, the UE transmits CQIs for respective BPs in ascending order in the frequency domain so as to cover the system band or designated band (set S).

The UE may have the following PUCCH transmission types according to a transmission combination of CQI/PMI/PTI/RI.

i) Type 1: the UE transmits a subband (SB) CQI of Mode 2-0 and Mode 2-1.

ii) Type 1a: the UE transmits an SB CQI and a second PMI.

iii) Types 2, 2b and 2c: the UE transmits a WB-CQI/PMI.

iv) Type 2a: the UE transmits a WB PMI.

v) Type 3: the UE transmits an RI.

vi) Type 4: the UE transmits a WB CQI.

vii) Type 5: the UE transmits an RI and a WB PMI.

viii) Type 6: the UE transmits an RI and a PTI.

ix) Type 7: the UE transmits a CRI (CSI-RS resource indicator) and an RI.

x) Type 8: the UE transmits a CRI, an RI and a WB PMI.

xi) Type 9: the UE transmits a CRI, an RI and a PTI (precoding type indication).

xii) Type 10: the UE transmits a CRI.

When the UE transmits an RI and a WB CQI/PMI, the CQI/PMI are transmitted in subframes having different periodicities and offsets. If the RI needs to be transmitted in the same subframe as the WB CQI/PMI, the CQI/PMI are not transmitted.

Aperiodic CSI Request

If a carrier aggregation (CA) environment is considered, a 2-bit CSI request field is used in DCI format 0 or 4, for an aperiodic CSI feedback in the current LTE standards. If a plurality of serving cells are configured for a UE in the CA environment, the UE interprets the CSI request field in 2 bits. If one of TM 1 to TM 9 is configured for every component carrier (CC), an aperiodic CSI feedback is triggered according to values listed in Table 8 below. If TM 10 is configured for at least one of all CCs, an aperiodic CSI feedback is triggered according to values listed in Table 9 below.

TABLE 8 Values of CSI request field Description ‘00’ Aperiodic CSI reporting is not triggered ‘01’ Aperiodic CSI reporting is triggered for serving cell ‘10’ Aperiodic CSI reporting is triggered for a first set of serving cells configured by higher layer ‘11’ Aperiodic CSI reporting is triggered for a second set of serving cells configured by higher layer

TABLE 9 Values of CSI request field Description ‘00’ Aperiodic CSI reporting is not triggered ‘01’ Aperiodic CSI reporting is triggered for CSI process set configured for serving cell by higher layer ‘10’ Aperiodic CSI reporting is triggered for a first set of CSI processes configured by higher layer ‘11’ Aperiodic CSI reporting is triggered for a second set of CSI processes configured by higher layer

In a next-generation system, various (lengths of) transmission time intervals (TTIs) may be configured for all or specific physical channels to satisfy the requirements of various application fields. In particular, a TTI in which a physical channel such as a PDCCH/PDSCH/PUSCH/PUCCH is transmitted may be set less than 1 msec to reduce communication latency between an eNB and a UE depending on scenarios (the PDCCH/PDSCH/PUSCH/PUCCH is referred to as a sPDCCH/sPDSCH/sPUSCH/sPUCCH). For a single or multiple UEs, a plurality of physical channels may be present in one subframe (e.g., 1 msec), and each channel may have a different TTI (length). The following embodiments will be described based on the LTE system for convenience of description. In this case, a TTI may be set to 1 msec, which is the length of a normal subframe of the LTE system (such a TTI is referred to as a normal TTI). A short TTI means a TTI shorter than the normal TTI and includes one or multiple OFDM or SC-FDMA symbols. Although the present disclosure assumes the short TTI (i.e., a TTI shorter than one subframe) for convenience of description, the present disclosure may be extended and applied when the TTI is longer than one subframe or has a length equal to or longer than 1 ms. The present disclosure may also be extended and applied when the next-generation system introduces the short TTI by increasing the subcarrier spacing. Although the present disclosure is described based on the LTE system for convenience of description, the disclosure is also applicable to a technology that uses a different waveform/frame structure such as new radio access technology (RAT). In general, the present disclosure assumes the use of a sTTI (<1 msec), a long TTI (=1 msec), and a longer TTI (>1 msec). Although the following embodiments are described based on multiple UL channels having different TTI lengths, numerologies, and/or processing times, it is apparent that the embodiments are applicable to multiple UL/DL channels with different service requirements, latency, and/or scheduling units.

To satisfy a reduction in the above-described latency, i.e., low latency, a TTI, which is a minimum unit for data transmission, needs to be newly designed to be reduced to a shortened TTI (sTTI) which is equal to or less than 0.5 msec (ms). For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, in order to reduce user-plane (U-plane) latency to 1 ms until the UE completes transmission of ACK/NACK (A/N) since the eNB has started transmission of data (a PDCCH and a PDSCH), the sTTI may be configured in units of about 3 OFDM symbols.

In a DL environment, a PDCCH for data transmission/scheduling within the sTTI (i.e., a sPDCCH) and a PDSCH for transmitting data within the sTTI (i.e., a sPDSCH) may be transmitted. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, a plurality of sTTIs may be configured using different OFDM symbols in one subframe. Characteristically, OFDM symbols in which legacy channels are transmitted may be excluded from OFDM symbols constituting a sTTI. The sPDCCH and the sPDSCH within the sTTI may be transmitted in different OFDM symbol regions by being time-division-multiplexed (TDMed) or may be transmitted in different PRBs or on different frequency resources by being frequency-division-multiplexed (FDMed).

In a UL environment, data may be transmitted/scheduled in the sTTI as in the DL case. In this case, channels corresponding to the PUCCH and the PUSCH, which are based on the normal TTI, may be referred to as ‘sPUCCH’ and ‘sPUSCH’, respectively.

In the present disclosure, a description is given based on an LTE/LTE-A system. In a legacy LTE/LTE-A system, a 1-ms subframe may include 14 OFDM symbols in the case of a normal CP. If the 1-ms subframe is configured by TTIs shorter than 1 ms, one subframe may include a plurality of TTIs. As in examples illustrated in FIG. 7, 2 symbols, 3 symbols, 4 symbols, or 7 symbols may constitute one TTI. Although not illustrated, the case in which one symbol constitutes one TTI may be considered. If one symbol constitutes one TTI unit, 12 TTIs are generated under the assumption that legacy PDCCHs are transmitted in two OFDM symbols. Similarly, as illustrated in (a) of FIG. 7, if two symbols constitute one TTI unit, 6 TTIs may be generated. As illustrated in (b) of FIG. 7, if 3 symbols constitute one TTI unit, 4 TTIs may be generated. As illustrated in (c) of FIG. 7, if 4 symbols constitute one TTI unit, 3 TTIs may be generated. In this case, it is assumed that legacy PDCCHs are transmitted in the first starting two OFDM symbols.

As illustrated in (d) of FIG. 7, in the case in which 7 symbols constitute one TTI, 7 symbols including legacy PDCCHs may constitute one TTI and 7 subsequent symbols may constitute one TTI. If one TTI includes 7 symbols, a UE supporting a sTTI assumes that, in a TTI located at a front part of one subframe (i.e., the first slot), front two OFDM symbols in which legacy PDCCHs are transmitted are punctured or rate-matched and that data of the UE and/or control information is transmitted in 5 symbols subsequent to the front two symbols. In contrast, the UE assumes that, in a TTI located at a rear part of one subframe (i.e., the second slot), data and/control information may be transmitted in all of 7 symbols without a punctured or rate-matched resource region.

The present disclosure considers a sTTI structure in which a sTTI consisting of two OFDM symbols (OSs) and a sTTI consisting of three OSs coexist in one subframe as illustrated in FIG. 8. The sTTI consisting of two or three OSs may be simply defined as a two-symbol sTTI (or a two-OS sTTI). In addition, a two-symbol sTTI and a three-symbol sTTI may be referred to as a two-symbol TTI and a three-symbol TTI, respectively. It should be noted that each of the sTTIs is shorter than the legacy TTI, i.e., 1 ms TTI. That is, the term “TTI” used herein may indicate the sTTI as well. The object of the present disclosure is to provide a communication method in a system using a TTI shorter than the legacy TTI, irrespective of their names.

Herein, the numerology may refer to a TTI length or subcarrier spacing to be applied to a wireless communication system, a parameter indicating a fixed TTI length or fixed subcarrier spacing, a communication architecture or system based thereon.

In sTTI pattern <3,2,2,2,2,3> illustrated in FIG. 8 (a), the sPDCCH may be transmitted depending on the number of PDCCH symbols. In sTTI pattern <2,3,2,2,2,3> illustrated in FIG. 8 (b), it may be difficult to transmit the sPDCCH due to the legacy PDCCH region.

New Radio Technology (NR)

Hereinabove, the structure, operation or function of the 3GPP LTE (-A) system has been described. The structure, operation, or function of the 3GPP LTE (-A) system may be slightly modified or differently implemented for the NR system. It will be described in brief.

The NR system supports various numerologies. For example, the NR system supports not only a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz but also a subcarrier spacing that is 2^(n) times higher than the 15 kHz subcarrier spacing (where n=1, 2, 3, or 4).

In the case of a normal CP, the number of OFDM symbols in each slot (hereinafter an OFDM symbol is simply referred to as a symbol) is fixed to 14, but the number of slots in one subframe is supported up to 2^(k) (where k=0, 1, 2, 3, or 4). However, a radio frame is composed of 10 subframes as in the legacy LTE system. In the case of an extended CP, the number of symbols in each slot is fixed to 12, and one subframe is composed of four slots. In addition, one RB is defined as 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain as in the legacy LTE system.

The usage of each symbol (e.g., DL symbol, UL symbol, or flexible symbol) in one slot may be defined depending on slot formats, and both DL and UL symbols may be configured in one slot. This structure is referred to as a self-contained subframe (or slot) structure.

The next-generation system aims to use wide frequency bands and support various services or requirements. For example, ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC), which is one of the representative scenarios regarding 3GPP NR requirements, requires low latency and high reliability. Specifically, the URLLC requires that that user plane latency of 0.5 ms is supported and X-byte data is transmitted within 1 ms with an error rate less than 10{circumflex over ( )}−5. Generally, the traffic volume of enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) is high, but the file size of URLLC traffic is less than tens or hundreds of bytes and sporadically occurs. Thus, for the eMBB, a transmission method capable of maximizing the transfer rate and minimizing the overhead of control information is required, but for the URLLC, a transmission method capable of using a short scheduling time unit and guaranteeing reliability is required.

Depending on application fields or traffic types, various reference time units may be assumed/used to transmit and receive a physical channel. The reference time unit may be a basic unit for scheduling a specific physical channel and vary depending on the number of symbols included in a corresponding scheduling unit and/or subcarrier spacing. In embodiments of the present disclosure, a slot or a mini-slot is used as the reference time unit for convenience of description. The slot may refer to a basic scheduling unit used for normal data traffic (e.g., eMBB). The time duration of the mini-slot may be shorter than that of the slot in the time domain. The mini-slot may refer to a basic scheduling unit used for special traffic or communication (e.g., URLLC, unlicensed band, millimeter wave, etc.). However, this is merely exemplary, and it is apparent that the present disclosure may be extended and applied when a physical channel is transmitted and received based on the mini-slot in the eMBB or when a physical channel is transmitted and received based on the slot in the URLLC or other communication methods.

Fast CSI Reporting

To support more strict reliability and latency requirements, CSI feedback needs to become faster and more accurate. That is, fast and accurate CSI feedback may allow a network to efficiently schedule a UE. To this end, it may be regulated that the UE transmits a CSI report on a specific cell and/or CSI process earlier than a conventional CSI report, which is based on a CSI request in a UL grant. In particular, a different service type and/or block error rate (BLER) requirement may be configured for each cell and/or CSI process. In addition, it may be regulated that CSI feedback for a specific service type and/or BLER requirement is provided at a timing different from a UL-SCH transmission timing scheduled by the UL grant (for example, at a timing earlier than that of the conventional CSI report based on the CSI request in the UL grant). In the present specification, “fast CSI reporting” means that CSI is reported at a timing earlier than that defined in the related art.

It may be regulated that PUSCH transmission for fast CSI reporting is performed at a timing different from the UL-SCH transmission timing scheduled by the UL grant. In particular, when multiple PUSCHs are transmitted based on the corresponding UL grant, one may be ‘A-CSI only PUSCH’ transmission and another may be ‘PUSCH with UL-SCH’ transmission. The A-CSI only PUSCH transmission refers to PUSCH transmission including only A-CSI, and the PUSCH with UL-SCH transmission refers to PUSCH transmission including a UL-SCH depending on a UL grant (i.e., normal PUSCH transmission). For example, assuming that the timing of the UL-grant-to-PUSCH with UL-SCH transmission is x subframes (or slots) and the timing of the A-CSI only PUSCH transmission from the UL grant is y subframes (or slots), y may be less than x (y<x). Alternatively, it may be regulated that the fast CSI reporting is enabled only when the condition for the A-CSI only PUSCH transmission is satisfied.

The fast CSI reporting may be performed on the PUSCH or a channel such as the PUCCH. Which channel is used for the fast CSI reporting may be configured by a higher layer signal or indicated by DCI. When the PUSCH is used for the fast CSI reporting, RB allocation may follow resource allocation indicated by UL grant DCI. However, in this case, if many resources are allocated for UL-SCH scheduling, the same amount of resources are used for the fast CSI reporting, and it may cause excessive resource waste. Accordingly, some resources in the resource allocation indicated by the UL grant DCI may be used for the fast CSI reporting. For example, it may be regulated that the fast CSI reporting is performed using a specific number of RBs, which are predefined/preconfigured, configured by the higher layer signal, or indicated by the DCI, from an RB with the lowest (or highest) RB index among allocated resources. As another example, it may be regulated that the fast CSI reporting is performed using resources corresponding to a starting RB index and length, which are predefined/preconfigured, configured by the higher layer signal, or indicated by the DCI. As another method, separate resources for the fast CSI reporting may be configured by the higher layer signal or indicated by the DCI. As a further method, if a PUSCH scheduled by the previous UL grant is present at the timing of the fast CSI reporting, it may be piggybacked on the corresponding PUSCH. In this case, if the corresponding PUSCH includes CSI triggered by the previous UL grant, it may be regulated that only the CSI corresponding to the fast CSI reporting is transmitted by overriding the CSI triggered by the previous UL grant.

When the PUSCH is used for the fast CSI reporting, an MCS indicated by the UL grant DCI may be used. However, to increase the reliability of CSI transmission, it may be regulated that a predetermined modulation order (e.g., QPSK) is used for the fast CSI reporting.

When the fast CSI reporting is triggered by the CSI request, it may be regulated that the PUCCH is used for the fast CSI reporting. To this end, a PUCCH resource for the fast CSI reporting may be configured by the higher layer signal or indicated by the CSI request. In particular, a specific PUCCH resource may be linked to a specific field in the CSI request. If there is another PUCCH for different UCI at the timing of the fast CSI reporting, aggregation may be performed on the PUCCH, and in this case, format adaptation may be defined. For example, if the timing of HARQ-ACK based on PUCCH format 1 collides with the transmission timing of the fast CSI reporting, it may be regulated that PUCCH format 3, 4, or 5 or a new PUCCH format (capable of supporting a large payload) is used for the format adaptation.

It may be regulated that the fast CSI reporting is performed only in the case of a CSI report on a cell or CSI process with a specific target BLER, a specific service type (e.g., URLLC), a specific TTI length, and/or a specific numerology. In particular, when the CSI request is transmitted, the target BLER, service type, TTI length, and/or numerology may be linked to each state in the CSI request, and the CSI reporting timing may be determined for each state. As another method, the reporting timing for each state may be explicitly indicated by the higher layer signal or implicitly mapped so that the CSI reporting timing may be determined for each state. As a further method, it may be regulated that the target BLER, service type, TTI length, and/or numerology is linked to each cell and/or CSI process, and each cell and/or CSI process has a different reporting timing. For example, assuming that the timing of the UL-grant-to-PUSCH with UL-SCH transmission is four subframes (or slots) and the timing of the A-CSI only PUSCH transmission is two subframes (or slots), if CSI processes a, b, and c, which correspond to specific states of CSI request bits, have BLER requirements of 10{circumflex over ( )}−1, 10{circumflex over ( )}−1, and 10{circumflex over ( )}−5, respectively, the UE may report CSI process c after two subframes (or slots) from when receiving the UL grant DCI including the CSI request and report CSI processes a and b after four subframes (or slots).

The timing of a reference resource for performing measurement for the fast CSI reporting or the CSI reporting for the cell or CSI process with the specific target BLER, the specific service type (e.g., URLLC), the specific TTI length, and/or the specific numerology may be defined to be different from that of a conventional reference resource (the former may be shorter than the latter). In general, a CSI reference resource for the cell or CSI process with the specific target BLER, the specific service type (e.g., URLLC), the specific TTI length, and/or the specific numerology may have a different timing from the conventional one (it may have a shorter timing than the conventional one). The timing of the CSI reference resource may be linked to each state in the CSI request, configured by the higher layer signal, or indicated by the DCI. Alternatively, the timing of the CSI reference resource may be linked to each cell and/or CSI process, configured by the higher layer signal, or indicated by the DCI.

A TTI length (i.e., scheduling unit size) and/or a numerology used as a reference for PDSCH CQI calculation on the reference resource on which the measurement for the fast CSI reporting or the CSI reporting for the cell or CSI process with the specific target BLER, the specific service type (e.g., URLLC), the specific TTI length, and/or the specific numerology is performed may be configured independently of those for normal CSI reporting. In addition, an RS (e.g., a CSI-RS different from that for the normal CSI reporting, a CSI-RS resource index, a CSI-RS+DMRS, and/or a DMRS only) used as the reference for the PDSCH CQI calculation on the reference resource on which the measurement for the fast CSI reporting is performed may be configured independently of those of the normal CSI reporting.

When the target BLER, service type (e.g., URLLC), TTI length, and/or numerology of CSI feedback on a specific cell or CSI process varies, the content of the corresponding CSI feedback may also vary. In particular, it may be regulated that some of the content of a CSI reporting mode configured for the corresponding cell/CSI process is reported. For example, the UE may report only an RI or a specific subband CQI/PMI. As another method, it may be regulated that only the content of a (predefined or signaled) compact mode (e.g., a wideband report, mode 1-0 or 1-1, etc.) is reported instead of following the CSI reporting mode configured for the corresponding cell/CSI process. The CSI reporting mode of the corresponding cell/CSI process or the content (set) to be actually transmitted in the corresponding cell/CSI process may be linked to a CSI request field in the DCI or a field equivalent thereto, and the UE may determine the content of the CSI reporting based thereon. As a further method, the target BLER, service type (e.g., URLLC), TTI length, and/or numerology may be interpreted differently for the same CSI reporting mode. More specifically, the content set of the CSI reporting mode, the subband size, the number of pieces of actually reported subband CSI, and/or the bit field size of each content may vary.

CSI Update/Calculation Capability

To support an operation of triggering/reporting a suitable amount of CSI feedback, the UE may need to report its maximum simultaneous CSI update/calculation capability to the network. In particular, it may be regulated that the UE reports to the network the maximum simultaneous CSI update/calculation capability for each target BLER, service type, TTI length, numerology, and/or processing time or for each combination thereof, using the number of cells or CSI processes. Alternatively, it may be regulated that the UE reports to the network the capability for the maximum number of simultaneously reported CSI reports for each target BLER, service type, TTI length, numerology, and/or processing time or for each combination thereof. The above capability signaling may be defined differently and independently per band or per band combination. The UE is not required to update cells or CSI processes over the maximum simultaneous CSI update/calculation capability. In other words, the UE may update cells and CSI processes within the maximum simultaneous CSI update/calculation capability.

It may be regulated that a CSI report on a cell or CSI process with a specific target BLER, a specific service type (e.g., URLLC), a specific TTI length, a specific numerology, and/or a specific processing time is prioritized and updated first. In particular, it may be regulated a CSI report on a cell or CSI process with a low BLER, a strict service/latency requirement, a short TTI length, a large subcarrier spacing, and/or a short processing time is prioritized and updated first. The above operation may be applied such that when multiple CSI reports have the same triggering time or when the triggering time of a CSI report with a high priority is later than that of a CSI report with a low priority, the CSI report with the high priority is updated first. In addition, the operation may be applied such that when multiple CSI reports have the same reporting time or when the reporting time of a CSI report with a high priority is later than that of a CSI report with a low priority, the CSI report with the high priority is updated first.

UE Capability on Maximum CSI Processes

Currently, UE capability signaling for indicating the maximum number of CSI processes supportable by the UE configured with transmission mode (TM) 10 has been defined for each component carrier of a specific band. When faster CSI reporting corresponding to sTTI operation is applied, the processing time from CSI measurement to CSI reporting may be different from that of the conventional 1 ms-TTI operation. Thus, it may be regulated that when the UE configured with TM 10 intends to report its capability i.e., the maximum number of CSI processes supportable by the UE for each component carrier of the specific band, the UE reports the maximum number of CSI processes independently for each target BLER, service type, numerology, TTI length, combination of DL and UL TTI lengths, and/or processing time or for each combination thereof. In addition, the UE capability signaling may be reported independently per band or per band combination.

When the network or eNB configures CSI processes for corresponding component carriers of a corresponding band, the network or eNB may recognize the maximum number of configurable CSI processes for the 1 ms TTI and/or sTTI and then configure the CSI processes based thereon.

CSI Feedback when TM is Changed Depending on Subframe Types (MBSFN or Non-MBSFN)

It has been considered that a TTI shorter than a subframe is supported. With the introduction of such a sTTI, a method of changing the TM of a PDSCH transmitted in the sTTI in a subframe depending on subframe types has also been discussed. For example, a method of configuring a DMRS-based TM for an MBSFN subframe, which is different from the TM configured for a non-MBSFN subframe, is under discussion. The present disclosure proposes the following CSI feedback methods on the assumption that the above operation is supported.

According to the current LTE standards, a CSI reporting mode may be determined based on the TM configured for the UE. In particular, when the DMRS-based TM, which is different from the TM configured for the non-MBSFN subframe, is independently configured for the MBSFN subframe, it may be regulated that CSI reporting modes are configured for the corresponding TMs, respectively. In this case, the CSI reporting mode may be determined according to the following methods.

(Method 1) It may be regulated that a CSI reporting mode corresponding to a TM determined depending on the type (MBSFN or non-MBSFN) of a subframe including a sTTI in which UL grant DCI for triggering CSI is transmitted is used in reporting the corresponding CSI.

(Method 2) It may be regulated that a CSI reporting mode corresponding to a TM determined depending on the type of a subframe including a sTTI for reporting CSI is used in reporting the corresponding CSI.

(Method 3) It may be regulated that a CSI reporting mode corresponding to the TM configured for the non-MBSFN subframe or a default TM is always used.

(Method 4) When aperiodic CSI is triggered, the CSI reporting mode may be explicitly indicated. Alternatively, it may be regulated that a CSI reporting mode implicitly associated with each state indicated by CSI request bits is used in reporting the corresponding CSI.

When the DMRS-based TM, which is different from the TM configured for the non-MBSFN subframe, is independently configured for the MBSFN subframe, if the sTTI for transmitting the UL grant DCI for triggering the CSI and the sTTI for reporting the CSI belong to different types of subframes (MBSFN or non-MBSFN), a CSI reference resource may be determined except a sTTI having a TM different from that when the CSI is reported.

Aperiodic CSI without UL-SCH for URLLC

According to the current LTE standards, when the conditions described in [Reference] are satisfied, the UE may provide only aperiodic CSI feedback that is triggered with no transport block (TB) for the UL-SCH. For convenience of description, transmitting UCI with no UL-SCH over the PUSCH is referred to as UCI only PUSCH feedback.

[Reference] Conditions for Aperiodic CSI Reporting with No UL-SCH

“When DCI format 0 is used and I_MCS=29 or when DCI format 4 is used, only one TB is enabled, I_MCS=29 in the corresponding TB, and the number of transmission layers is 1,

If the CSI request bit field is one bit, aperiodic CSI reporting is triggered, and N_PRB is less than or equal to 4,

If the CSI request bit filed is two bits, aperiodic CSI reporting is triggered for one serving cell, N_PRB is less than or equal to 4,

If the CSI request bit filed is two bits, aperiodic CSI reporting is triggered for multiple serving cells, N_PRB is less than or equal to 20,

If the CSI request bit filed is two bits, aperiodic CSI reporting is triggered for one CSI process, N_PRB is less than or equal to 4, or

If the CSI request bit filed is two bits, aperiodic CSI reporting is triggered for multiple CSI processes, N_PRB is less than or equal to 20,”

If time repetition is applied to PUSCH transmission, the conditions for triggering CSI reporting on the PUSCH with no UL-SCH need to be changed. Specifically, it may be regulated that the conditions for triggering the CSI reporting on the PUSCH with no UL-SCH are determined by considering the MCS index and/or the number of repetitions applied to the corresponding PUSCH besides N_PRB. For example, when the number of PUSCH repetitions is set to 2 and then indicated to the UE, it may be regulated that the UE needs to recognize “upper limit value of N_PRB*repetition number” in the conditions for triggering the CSI reporting on the PUSCH with no UL-SCH as the upper limit value of new N_PRB and then determine whether the CSI reporting on the PUSCH with no UL-SCH is triggered based thereon.

[1-6] UCI Feedback with Time Repetition

To improve the reliability of UL channel transmission, the time repetition may be considered. In this case, it is expected that the time repetition may also increase the reliability of UCI feedback, which is transmitted together with the UL channel. However, if the time repetition is applied to the UCI feedback as many times as the number of times that the PUSCH carrying the UCI feedback is repeated, it may be inefficient in terms of latency. Therefore, the present disclosure propose the following options. Here, UCI may include not only CSI but also HARQ-ACK, SR, etc.

Option 1: The time repetition may be applied to the UCI feedback as many times as the time repetition number of the PUSCH.

Option 2: The time repetition may be applied to the UCI feedback fewer times than the time repetition number of the PUSCH. In this case, the time repetition number of the UCI feedback may be predefined independently of the time repetition number of the PUSCH, configured by the higher layer signal, or indicated by the physical layer signal. In addition, information indicating which PUSCH among PUSCHs to which the time repetition is applied is included and transmitted in the UCI feedback may be predefined, configured by the higher layer signal, or indicated by the physical layer signal. Moreover, the UCI may be mapped to the same number of REs in every repetition. In this case, the UCI mapping order may be determined such that all the repetitions are distributed in the time domain.

As another method, the number of REs to which the UCI is mapped may vary in each repetition. For example, the number of REs to which the UCI is mapped may be determined such that if the number of REs exceeds a certain level, increasing from the first repetition, the UCI is mapped to the next repetition (or subframe/TTI).

According to the LTE standards, when the UCI is transmitted on the PUSCH, the number of coded symbols (i.e., REs in the LTE standards) for corresponding UCI transmission is calculated. In particular, when the CSI is transmitted over the PUSCH, the calculation may be performed as follows.

[Reference 1]

-   -   For channel quality control information (CQI and/or PMI denoted         as CQI/PMI);     -   When the UE transmits channel quality control information bits,         it shall determine the number of modulation coded symbols per         layer Q′ for channel quality information as

$\mspace{79mu} {Q^{\prime} = {\min\left( {{{\left\lceil \frac{{\left( {O + L} \right) \cdot M}{\text{?} \cdot N}{\text{?} \cdot \beta_{offset}^{\text{?}}}}{\sum\limits_{\text{?}}^{\text{?}}{K\text{?}}} \right\rceil \cdot M_{\text{?}}^{PUSCH} \cdot N}\text{?}} - \frac{Q\text{?}}{Q\text{?}}} \right)}}$      where      O  is  the  number  of  CQI/PMI  bits, and ${L\mspace{14mu} {is}\mspace{14mu} {the}\mspace{14mu} {number}\mspace{14mu} {of}\mspace{14mu} {CRC}\mspace{14mu} {bits}\mspace{14mu} {given}\mspace{14mu} {by}\mspace{14mu} L} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix} 0 & {O \leq 11} \\ 8 & {otherwise} \end{matrix},{{and}\text{?}\text{indicates text missing or illegible when filed}}} \right.$

[Reference 2]

-   -   Q_(CQI)=Q         ⁽         ^()·Q′ and β) _(offset) ^(PUSCH)=β_(offset) ^(CQI), where         β_(offset) ^(CQI) shall be determined according to [3] depending         on the number of transmission codewords for the corresponding         PUSCH, the duration of the corresponding PUSCH, and on the         uplink power control subframe set for the corresponding PUSCH         when two uplink power control subframe sets are configured by         higher layers of the cell.     -   If neither RI nor CRI is not transmitted then Q         ⁽         ⁾=0.

That is, when the number of coded symbols (or REs) for UCI transmission in each repetition is calculated under the application of the PUSCH time repetition, the following issues may be considered for the beta offset (β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)=β_(offset) ^(CQI)).

Option 3: When the time repetition is applied to the PUSCH, it may be regulated that the UCI feedback is transmitted using a large number of REs in the TTI for one PUSCH (or some PUSCHs) among repeatedly transmitted PUSCHs by applying a beta offset value higher than the previously configured/indicated value. In this case, it may be regulated that the UCI feedback is transmitted using a large number of REs in the TTI for one PUSCH (or some PUSCHs) among repeatedly transmitted PUSCHs. The beta offset value may be independent (changed) for each time repetition number (group). In addition, the beta offset value may be configured by the higher layer signal or indicated by the physical layer signal. As another method, the number of coded symbols or REs for the PUSCH may be determined by multiplying the PUSCH repetition number with the previously configured or indicated beta offset value.

Option 4: When the time repetition is applied to the PUSCH, it may be predefined, configured by the higher layer signal, or indicated by the physical layer signal whether the time repetition is applied to the UCI feedback or whether a large number of REs are used in the TTI for one PUSCH (or some PUSCHs) by applying a high beta offset value.

Since each of the examples of the proposed methods may be included as one method for implementing the present disclosure, it is apparent that each example may be regarded as a proposed method. In addition, although the proposed methods may be implemented independently, some of the proposed methods may be combined (or merged) for implementation. Moreover, it may be regulated that information on whether the proposed methods are applied (or information on rules related to the proposed methods) should be transmitted from the eNB to the UE through a predefined signal (e.g., a physical layer signal, a higher layer signal, etc.).

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a transmitting device 10 and a receiving device 20 configured to implement exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The transmitting device 10 and the receiving device 20 respectively include transmitter/receiver 13 and 23 for transmitting and receiving radio signals carrying information, data, signals, and/or messages, memories 12 and 22 for storing information related to communication in a wireless communication system, and processors 11 and 21 connected operationally to the transmitter/receiver 13 and 23 and the memories 12 and 22 and configured to control the memories 12 and 22 and/or the transmitter/receiver 13 and 23 so as to perform at least one of the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memories 12 and 22 may store programs for processing and control of the processors 11 and 21 and may temporarily storing input/output information. The memories 12 and 22 may be used as buffers. The processors 11 and 21 control the overall operation of various modules in the transmitting device 10 or the receiving device 20. The processors 11 and 21 may perform various control functions to implement the present disclosure. The processors 11 and 21 may be controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or microcomputers. The processors 11 and 21 may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. In a hardware configuration, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), or Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) may be included in the processors 11 and 21. If the present disclosure is implemented using firmware or software, firmware or software may be configured to include modules, procedures, functions, etc. performing the functions or operations of the present disclosure. Firmware or software configured to perform the present disclosure may be included in the processors 11 and 21 or stored in the memories 12 and 22 so as to be driven by the processors 11 and 21.

The processor 11 of the transmitting device 10 is scheduled from the processor 11 or a scheduler connected to the processor 11 and codes and modulates signals and/or data to be transmitted to the outside. The coded and modulated signals and/or data are transmitted to the transmitter/receiver 13. For example, the processor 11 converts a data stream to be transmitted into K layers through demultiplexing, channel coding, scrambling and modulation. The coded data stream is also referred to as a codeword and is equivalent to a transport block which is a data block provided by a MAC layer. One transport block (TB) is coded into one codeword and each codeword is transmitted to the receiving device in the form of one or more layers. For frequency up-conversion, the transmitter/receiver 13 may include an oscillator. The transmitter/receiver 13 may include Nt (where Nt is a positive integer) transmit antennas.

A signal processing process of the receiving device 20 is the reverse of the signal processing process of the transmitting device 10. Under the control of the processor 21, the transmitter/receiver 23 of the receiving device 10 receives RF signals transmitted by the transmitting device 10. The transmitter/receiver 23 may include Nr receive antennas and frequency down-converts each signal received through receive antennas into a baseband signal. The transmitter/receiver 23 may include an oscillator for frequency down-conversion. The processor 21 decodes and demodulates the radio signals received through the receive antennas and restores data that the transmitting device 10 wishes to transmit.

The transmitter/receiver 13 and 23 include one or more antennas. An antenna performs a function of transmitting signals processed by the transmitter/receiver 13 and 23 to the exterior or receiving radio signals from the exterior to transfer the radio signals to the transmitter/receiver 13 and 23. The antenna may also be called an antenna port. Each antenna may correspond to one physical antenna or may be configured by a combination of more than one physical antenna element. A signal transmitted through each antenna cannot be decomposed by the receiving device 20. A reference signal (RS) transmitted through an antenna defines the corresponding antenna viewed from the receiving device 20 and enables the receiving device 20 to perform channel estimation for the antenna, irrespective of whether a channel is a single RF channel from one physical antenna or a composite channel from a plurality of physical antenna elements including the antenna. That is, an antenna is defined such that a channel transmitting a symbol on the antenna may be derived from the channel transmitting another symbol on the same antenna. A transmitter/receiver supporting a MIMO function of transmitting and receiving data using a plurality of antennas may be connected to two or more antennas.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, a UE serves as the transmission device 10 on uplink and as the receiving device 20 on downlink. In embodiments of the present disclosure, an eNB serves as the receiving device 20 on uplink and as the transmission device 10 on downlink.

The transmitting device and/or the receiving device may be configured as a combination of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

As a combination of the above-described proposals, provided is a UE for receiving a downlink signal in a wireless communication system. The UE may include a receiver, a transmitter, and a processor configured to control the receiver and the transmitter. The processor may be configured to receive a CSI request from an eNB, update CSI based on the maximum CSI update capability for a TTI length related to the CSI request, and report the CSI in response to the CSI request to the eNB. In this case, information on the maximum CSI update capability may include the maximum number of CSI processes that the UE is capable of simultaneously updating for the TTI length.

Additionally or alternatively, the maximum CSI update capability of the UE may be configured for each TTI length.

Additionally or alternatively, when the number of CSI processes indicated by the CSI request exceeds the maximum number of CSI processes that the UE is capable of simultaneously updating, the processor may be configured to update as many CSI processes as the maximum number of CSI processes.

Additionally or alternatively, the processor may be configured to update CSI processes for the UE sequentially by starting from a CSI process with a high priority based on predetermined priorities.

Additionally or alternatively, the predetermined priorities may be irrelevant to a time at which the CSI is reported and a time at which the CSI request is received.

Additionally or alternatively, the processor may be configured to report to the base station information on the maximum number of CSI processes supported by the UE for each target BLER, service type, numerology, TTI length, combination of a UL TTI length and a DL TTI length, or processing time or for each combination thereof.

Additionally or alternatively, when the TM of a TTI for receiving the CSI request is different from that of a TTI for reporting the CSI, a reporting mode corresponding to the TM of the TTI for reporting the CSI may be used to report the CSI in response to the CSI request.

Additionally or alternatively, when repetition is supported in reporting the CSI, a beta offset value for determining the number of coded modulation symbols or REs for a UL channel carrying the CSI may be configured for each repetition number.

The detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are provided to allow those skilled in the art to implement and embody the present disclosure. While the present disclosure has been described and illustrated herein with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments disclosed herein but intends to give the broadest scope consistent with the new principles and features disclosed herein.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present disclosure may be used for a wireless communication apparatus such as a user equipment (UE), a relay and an eNB. 

1. A method of reporting a channel state by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving, from a base station, a channel state information (CSI) request; updating CSI based on maximum CSI update capability for a transmission time interval (TTI) length related to the CSI request; and reporting, to the base station, the CSI in response to the CSI request, wherein information on the maximum CSI update capability includes a maximum number of CSI processes simultaneously updatable by the UE for the TTI length.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the maximum CSI update capability of the UE is configured for each TTI length.
 3. The method of claim 1, comprising, based on that a number of CSI processes indicated by the CSI request exceeds the maximum number of the CSI processes simultaneously updatable by the UE, updating as many CSI processes as the maximum number of the CSI processes.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the updating comprises updating CSI processes for the UE sequentially by starting from a CSI process with a high priority based on predetermined priorities.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the predetermined priorities are irrelevant to a CSI reporting time and a CSI request reception time.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising reporting, to the base station, information on the maximum number of the CSI processes supported by the UE for each target block error rate (BLER), service type, numerology, TTI length, combination of an uplink (UL) TTI length and a downlink (DL) TTI length, or processing time or for each combination thereof.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein based on that a transmission mode of a TTI for receiving the CSI request is different from a transmission mode of a TTI for reporting the CSI, a reporting mode corresponding to the transmission mode of the TTI for reporting the CSI is used to report the CSI in response to the CSI request.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein based on repetition supported in reporting the CSI, a beta offset value for determining a number of coded modulation symbols or resource elements for an uplink channel carrying the CSI is configured for each repetition number.
 9. A user equipment (UE) for receiving a downlink signal in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: a receiver; a transmitter; and a processor configured to control the receiver and the transmitter, wherein the processor is configured to: receive a channel state information (CSI) request from a base station; update CSI based on maximum CSI update capability for a transmission time interval (TTI) length related to the CSI request; and report the CSI in response to the CSI request to the base station, and wherein information on the maximum CSI update capability includes a maximum number of CSI processes simultaneously updatable by the UE for the TTI length.
 10. The UE of claim 9, wherein the maximum CSI update capability of the UE is configured for each TTI length.
 11. The UE of claim 9, wherein based on that a number of CSI processes indicated by the CSI request exceeds the maximum number of the CSI processes simultaneously updatable by the UE, the processor is configured to update as many CSI processes as the maximum number of the CSI processes.
 12. The UE of claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to update CSI processes for the UE sequentially by starting from a CSI process with a high priority based on predetermined priorities.
 13. The UE of claim 12, wherein the predetermined priorities are irrelevant to a CSI reporting time and a CSI request reception time.
 14. The UE of claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to report to the base station information on the maximum number of the CSI processes supported by the UE for each target block error rate (BLER), service type, numerology, TTI length, combination of an uplink (UL) TTI length and a downlink (DL) TTI length, or processing time or for each combination thereof.
 15. The UE of claim 9, wherein based on that a transmission mode of a TTI for receiving the CSI request is different from a transmission mode of a TTI for reporting the CSI, a reporting mode corresponding to the transmission mode of the TTI for reporting the CSI is used to report the CSI in response to the CSI request.
 16. The UE of claim 9, wherein based on repetition supported in reporting the CSI, a beta offset value for determining a number of coded modulation symbols or resource elements for an uplink channel carrying the CSI is configured for each repetition number.
 17. The UE of claim 9, wherein the UE is a part of an autonomous driving device that communicates with at least a network or another autonomous device. 